The Requiem of a Stormrider
by Farah.AshTree
Summary: What they feel about each other ; A Ringo/Ikki story


I found this old story hidden in my old documents , so I decided to publish it. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Air Gear does not belong to me , it belongs to OH GREAT (who , lets face it. Really is kind of great )

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Riders , Kings , Tuners , and of course , the trophaeum tower. The war had just begun , but look at the destruction it has caused . Both physically and emotionally. Friends turn to foes , a lifetimes worth of friendship sliced through thin air like nothing was worth the fight. Why didn't it ? Its too late to turn back now , or is it?

Then somewhere in the middle of the war , you would see lonely hearts walking carelessly up along a busy street . They walk around aimlessly for about an hour or so , after deciding to actually head to a specific location. Home.

**Ringo's POV :**

"Aww , crap. Why is it so cold now?" Ringo shivered , the obvious result of wearing a thin long sleeved tee for a top and knee-length skirt . She rubbed her hands up and down her forearm vigorously , trying to fight off the cold. 'If only Ikki..' She stopped her thoughts cold . It had only been a couple of months since she parted ways with Ikki , yet she couldn't bring herself to let him go.

She remembered that time when they were still together , at quite the very same time , a chilly night when he draped his jacket around her , without being asked to. They were resting their tired muscles from the arduous training Agito torturously made Kogarasumaru endure. As soon as it ended , everybody practically dropped dead and sprawled themselves sluggishly on the cold tiled classroom floor.

But that was a long time ago , and Agito , he was one hell of a coach .

Ringo stared into space for a couple of seconds before she realized where her legs had taken her to. Back to where it all began. If only she hadn't encouraged Ikki usingAir trecks , then none of this would have happened. Sleeping Forests would remain a mystery to everyone and the Trophaeum War could probably be avoided. Its all a little too late to regret those decisions now. If time could be manipulated , then she would give nothing to turn it back around.

As ugly as things had gotten , she would never , ever have regretted the time they spent together , watching him and the team mature and grow , she was there. She's happy she had been able to assist in any sort of way, although she would however be the one to destroy them . One way or the other , it had to be done. The Wing Regalia has to be protected .

Taking one step into the house compound , she noticed just how eerie looking it is now. Now that no living being is staying in it anymore . No lively yells or screams during dinnertime , no laughter to brighten the blunt silent atmosphere . Theres nothing but mementoes in this home. BitterSweet memories hung at every corner of the broken , beautiful wooden home.

**Ikki's POV:**

"Cheh,coldcoldcold" Ikki muttered under his breath as he made his exit from Kazu's house. He quickly zipped his jacket all the way up and stuffed his hands deep inside his trousers, and cursed- silently. His chattering teeth prevented the word to escape out loud. At this time of the year , it wasn't very surprising if the weather decided to drop dangerously below the norm average . Its just that some people such as Ikki didn't give it much thought when the news reported the change last week , he simply ignored the weatherman's forecast and switched to the next damned channel. So now he suffers.

As more time passed by , nostalgic memories crept their way out off the deepest folders of his precious memory. Every bruise , laugh , fall began to unfold their stories , one by one. Somehow , the one key point in all of those memories , the one person he suppressed most , could not be left out . Ringo played much too big a part in his life for him to ever forget. He couldn't.

Thinking back , she was that one person who had always been constant in his crazy tornado-swept world. Not to mention the fact that he had never even met his own parents , but rather by growing up under the watchful , responsible eye of 10 year old Noyamano Rika. It did take a toll .One , he realized they were abandoned when he was not more than the tender age of 8 , something no child should be bothered about. Of course he received just as much love and care he should have , but it just wasn't the same . No parent should burden the responsibility of raising not one , not 2 , but 3 children to a 10 year old.

Ikki sighed , his so called family wasn't very functional . Proof – Ikki's inhuman toughness wasn't au-natural , his body was simply trained to be that way . His body had withstood 2 whacked sister's mindless violence ever since he could remember . So that should clear things up.

Then there was one girl , who was so gentle , so kind and caring , Ringo. Ringo , whom he had taken for granted to always catch him whenever he fell , to always come up with advices which had taken him to where he is now , and not once did he notice her transparent feelings towards him. But that girl stuck through it all , even cheering on for him after he lets her down countless times. She was still there.

A man couldn't have been more blunt , save for Minami Itsuki , Mid-East Strongest- Baby Face. What a total moron .

Dim street lamps lining the street seemed to stretch on forever , why hadn't he noticed just how long these roads were? Oh , right. How could he when time stood still in honour of Noyamano Ringo and Minami Itsuki's fleeting conversations which accounted for all lost time in the world? Now he realizes just how much he misses those silly short pointless arguments they always had .

"Ringo.. I ..I miss you" He finally whispered when he couldn't stop himself from saying her name any longer .

**Ringo's POV:**

Ringo slowly moved around the house compound , listening to every sound . The screaming wind blowing mercilessly , the wild rustling of the dead leaves on the unkempt ground and etch . Maybe she shouldn't have came back here , everything about this place reminded her more and more of him.

Uneased , she rummaged through her bagpack, plugged onto her headphones , and turned the volume up a notch . Only that headbanging number could rescue her from this. Or so Ringo hoped.

'Enough. I'm going inside' She decided , fast. As expected , the front door was locked , and if she moved it by force , the whole house might come crashing along . Airtrecks on, she jumped up the second storey with ease and entered through her bedroom veranda. Once she adjusted her vision in the cloudy night , she slipped in and turned on the lights , making herself perfectly at home.

Her fingers lightly traced the furnitures , old and dusty. One of these days she would definitely come back to fix this place clean up. Walking down the hallway , the wooden floor creaked and she unconsciously found herself standing in front of Ikki's room .

"Ahh.. this is.." She said , then pushing the door open . What was left 2 months ago was right where they were before. His bed , his drawers .. even a faint trace of his smell. Ringo sat on his bed , clutching at the bed sheet before pulling herself in a sleeping postion .

"Ikki,Ikki,Ikki.." By now , the tears were rolling by furiously, so was his dominant presence occupying her empty shell . She continued sobbing as if she owned the world's misery. The sheets were damp , her shirt was wet , but inside she felt dry . Parched. All she needs right now is indefinitely not water , she needed Ikki .

**Ikki's POV: **

'…What am I doing here?' was the question he asked himself when he found himself staring and standing rather dumbly in front of the gate of his old house. Ikki procrastinated for another minute , then decided to go in and take a look. Slowly pushing the gate open , he felt that familiar feeling of belonging. This was and still is his home , just that it was currently unoccupied.

Ikki pulled onto his jacket tighter when the wind continued blowing in a vile manner , shut his eyes and took in a deep breath . It smelt musty , and the air he sucked bit the insides of his nasal cavity cold. "fuck" He cursed , then again as he nearly stumbled over the front stairs.

He pulled on the doorknob , who knew , maybe Rika-Nee forgot to lock it . No such luck - The doorknob jammed nicely in place , not budging even an inch. His ego told him to just ram the door harder , but common sense and a hauntingly creepy image of Rika-nee who would go ballistic if she found out her old house crashed saved him. Instead , he loitered to the compound and looked up at the balcony . It had lights on , somebody is here- Robbers probably. Ikki put on a hard mask , and thought 'You left the lights on , suckers' and jumped on the balcony , landing smoothly without a sound of evidence.

Evidently , no one was there . Not a sign of robbery had taken place , but when he saw the room , his heart gave an actual physical leap. This is Ringo's room . How many times had he entered this room and still not be able to notice just how much of Ringo there is . Simple , with a personal touch here and there , tidy , and after 2 neglected months , a smooth dust lines the top of every furniture . Well of course when the room was in use it was spotless , immaculately clean in contrast of his dusty , untidy boyish room.

"Ringo" he murmured when he sat the edge of Ringo's bed. His hands moved lazily , yet wantingly at the sheets , brought them up to his face and buried his face deeply and inhaled her scent. It was still there . Ikki gave himself a small smile. Then , right when he was about to get comfortable , he reminded himself of the possible robbery and tossed the sheets back .

He walked outside towards the hallway , the lights were off. It may be dangerous as hell , but he knew what he was capable of and silently prayed for no creeping ghosts. The hallway seemed to send little vibes warning him not to get any closer , which he happily ignored and continued walking at a faster pace .

As he neared his old bedroom , Ikki stopped a few feets away and noticed the door was slightly ajar. Curious , he poked his big head through the doorframe . The first thing he took notice was just how his furniture remained in the same place , and the dim moonlight lighting whatever inch of his bedroom.

As his eye trailed from the windowsill towards his bed , he suddenly became alarmingly aware of the familiar human who seemed oblivious to his presence . He stared at the figure , observing her hair which shone nicely even in the dark , her womanly figure that reminded him of someone , then he realized just why she didn't notice him. She was wearing a pair of headphones , a large one blasting away even he could hear the faint sound of the heavy metal guitar playing .

Silently , he walked towards her . 'This can't be..' His mind went through the only possible choice the was . It could be , no , it really was her. It couldn't be anyone else . Now that he'd gotten much much closer did he notice she was crying heavily and the one thing he heard from her broken whispers were ..

His name.

"Ikki..Ikki..Ikki..!" She whispered , all the pain rolled into every syllable of his name. Ikki immediately felt an over-powering urge to dry those tears and gather her tiny body into his arms . She was crying , because of him . How many times had that happen? This definitely wasn't the first .

_**Flashback:**_

_There was that one time when he was still a kid , very young but with an ambition of one whole nations'. He wanted to fly . So , he thought maybe if he went to a really high place , his dream could be fulfilled. Thus , he climbed all the way up an electric tower , a good 400 feet above ground level. ONE thing for sure was that if he jumped from that level , chances of survival were technically , none. _

_But he did , he jumped. He jumped not screaming in fear , but in crazed satisfaction as he got the first real feel of flying. Those witnessing from down could only pray the for his damned soul . Just as he was about to fly right off the tower , a firefighter grabbed him by the collar just in the nick of time. But this wasn't part of Ikki's plan ._

_Annoyed, Ikki bit the man's arm- hard . Ringo screamed. Rika fainted . Masses down below prayed for the boy's soul. For all they knew , the boy was as good as dead. _

_Yet , the boy landed safely . Tumbling , scratched from head to toe , bruises everywhere , but the boy got up on his feet . Grinning , he announced to Ringo "I'm a god ,aren't I?"And he laughed , He got his first feel of the wind that day ._

_One thing for sure ;This kid is loved by the wind. _

_**End Of Flashback:**_

She was so close , yet so far . Yes , she was crying because of him . Even so , what could he possibly do for her ? Tell her its alright , and everything will be fine? More lies .

If he didn't.. 'Whats the point in waiting , you're only procrastinating the thing you were supposed to do years ago..' Ikki thought , grimly. So , he approached Ringo , slowly and cautiously. How could he have been such a blind bat ? In a way , Ringo's every move was selectedly moulded to fit his . Now was the time he turned the tables around.

His hands shook as he reached out to her ,scared of what might happened. Then suddenly , she simply disappeared. "Wha-?" Ikki's shock was cut short when he felt hands roughly holding the back of his neck. Ringo's hands. He should have never underestimated the power of the Thorn Road , one that allows the body extreme flexibility and speed.

Then , in an instant , the hands removed themselves and was followed by a startled gasp . " Ikki!" Recognition , shock , and maybe a hint of joy was said in that word. Ringo's sore , puffy eyes flew open in total shock . She had thought he was a rider , possibly from another team who came to kidnap her or something. But surprise , surprise. A horribly unexpected one though.

Ikki didn't dare to turn around to face Ringo . He hands turned into a painful fist , his fingernails digging the soles in his sweaty palms. 'Say something , SOMETHING. ANYTHING.' He thought , rash. For once , Ikki had nothing to say. Not in the presence of this special lady , no. He's tongue tied .

Silence was suddenly heavily unbearable . Yet , nothing was spoken . Time moved agonizingly slower by the second , both parties simply stood still . Unmoving , unwaveringly stunned. Ringo's body that had been pushed to the very limit for all of the training she did and it finally took a toll on her body . So very suddenly , her body felt weak . Her legs buckled and so did the rest of her body as she slumped forward , landing on Ikki's rigid back.

At the sudden movement , he knew something was wrong. In one smooth movement , he turned around making Ringo fall perfectly into his arms . She felt light , but she was weak . Her own weight seemed to drag her tiny body along to the floor. Ikki panicked for a second , then he remembered the other day this had happened and laid her gently on his bed.

As he did , his eyes never left hers . He stared at her puffy eyes as she stared into his concerned orbs. "Ringo.." Ikki started "..I'm sorry." His voice broke raggedly as he said those meaningful little words and covered her body with his , covering his face completely at the crook of her neck. Ikki's salty , wet tears soaked her shirt in no time as he let out words he had been meaning to say all these time .

Ringo's hands , as if on autopilot , started rubbing his back in circular motions , soothing him , "Shh , it's okay . It's alright. I forgive you" and whispered those words in his ears. Somewhere while doing that , her pain didn't recede , in fact , it felt a little worse and she cringed . Ikki felt that and he realized that she was still in pain , yet he still put forth his own selfish needs before her own and slowly sat up.

"I'm sorry!" Again he said , now to the girl laying weakly on the bed. She needed rest , proper rest . He also needed to remind her not to push herself too hard even if the Gram Scale Tournament had indeed started , because her life is worth so much more than that. Ringo looked at Ikki , confused and slightly embarrassed. Just how much of her crying did he hear just now? All of it , some , a little?

"Uh , Ikki .." Ringo said , but was silenced when Ikki clipped her mouth shut by clamping her lips with his thumb and index finger. He shut his eyes for a moment before looking at her with an expression she had never seen before. Somehow , his eyes gazed at hers adoringly , and he removed his fingers from her mouth and brought his other hand and held her face in both hands softly .

"Just rest , you don't have to say anything. Just rest."He said , now smoothing a hair out of her sweaty face . Before she even let the word out , he said it "I'll be right here , I swear .." By this point , nothing could come off as a shock , and yet the next thing he did made her heart lurch wildly against her ribcage it almost hurt. Ikki lowered himself and kissed her forehead long and slow.

That was all she needed to know , it was made clear in his simple gesture . But she did ask for one more favor. "Could you.. lay by my side?" She asked , shy and hopeful.

Ikki smiled and nodded. Both drifted into a sweet dreamworld in a matter of seconds.

Alright , that was a lie. At least for Ikki anyway .

How could he get one wink of sleep when she was right by his side? One would expect calmness when in the presence of a loved one , but it only made his mind entangle in a twisted knot and sent his heart beating a frenzy. He was sweating

Ringo , however , was fast asleep . Even if a second Hiroshima went off right next to her , she would still sleep like a log. This was a totally different case when it's a weekday, this girl wouldn't be late for nothing. Ikki sighed to himself as he propped himself up on one arm and laid his head lazily and stared at Ringo's silent sleeping form.

He watched her tired expression smooth over and chuckled as a Ringo drool rather sweetly at the corner of her mouth . Who knew watching a person sleep could be so amusing? He then brought his other hand and played with Ringo's wavy locks. His curious hands twirled her hair over and over then letting it fall before repeating the routine again.

"Ringo , since when did you get so beautiful ?" Ikki monologued . If anything , expressing one's feelings while the other is sleeping might be risky , but he knew that face . That face meant that she would be sleeping for the next 10 hours or so then to wake up the next morning fresh without remembering a thing that happened the day before. Quite safe .

And so , off he went . Talking to a sleeping Ringo , laughing at his own lame jokes , switching forms restlessly as he kept the one-sided conversation going for approximately the next 3 hours . He covered every damn topic he remembered , their childhood up to their current lives. Of course it wasn't as much fun talking to a log , but it cleared most of the things he needed off his chest.

Somewhere in between his drifting in and out of sleep , he could swear he heard Ringo murmuring his name in her sleep . What kind of dream was she having? But it did make Ikki incredibly happy to know a part of him was still with her , even if it was only in her dreams.

A few minutes later , exhaustion finally caught up with Ikki , and he too fell asleep . In contrast to Ringo's colourful dream consisting of fruitcakes and wasabi's , Ikki's dream was a bleak dark colour with air-treck wearing werewolves chasing him across a shrowded , cold forest floor. Good night kids, sweet dreams.

The scene the morning provided proved one had a restless night while the other a calm restful one. Now , if the bed was a queen sized bed , it would have been much easier to have a good nights rest , but seeing as this bed was made for a single person , it wasn't much of a surprise to see such a vulgar scene the next morning.

Most of the blankets was stolen by Ringo , which left Ikki to freeze his sorry ass off the next morning .Solution? He simply clung onto every inch of Ringo for heat . So the painted scene of Ikki's long arms and legs covering Ringo's blanket covered body was portrayed . Thus , when one of the two woke up the next morning , this happened:

Ringo felt an incredible weight covering her body , which was what had wrenched her from her dreams . The first thing she took notice was those long tanned arms , and when she turned her face for further inspected , her nose came in contact with the others' nose itself . Then she realized what happened last night wasn't a dream. It really did happen.

Ikki's breath blew softly on her skin , waking every one of her senses . She sucked in the air he did , and exhaled softly . 'Ikki doesn't have an awful morning breath..' She thought , amused . Now that she was at such a close range from his face , she was able to take in every plane , every sharp angle of his face as she had memorized . He really was a good-looking young chap.

Turning her body around to face his , she moulded herself and fit perfectly in his arms. Afterwards , she rested her head just beside his and gathered his lithe , muscular form into her hands. He felt good , warm .

"Ikki , you wouldn't mind if I.." She murmured as she closed the distance between her face and his. "..steal a kiss from you?" Ikki murmured back , and opened his eyes to meet her large brown irises . Embarrassed , Ringo quickly look down , unable to even form any proper sentence in her head , let alone on her tongue.

Ikki adjusted himself and looked at the girl , sweet and innocent , then at her plump red lips quivering . 'Oh, no.' Ikki then lifted her face up by his hands . "Look at me." He ordered , and she implied. Taking a deep Breath , Ikki said "Ringo .. you stink." Alright , that wasn't supposed to come out , but it did. Ringo stared at him through confused , and a slightly annoyed expression.

"That's it?" She asked , in monotone. 'NO, LIKE HELL NO.'His mind screamed. But that wasn't what he said ."…" He opened his mouth , but the words refused to come out. He tried again "Aaa..you..I uhh". Somehow , she expected a long winded answer , and an even longer line of insults to follow through , but it never came.

'Let me try this once more.' Ikki thought

"Ringo .." He tried again . " You're hot ? That's a better change." Ringo answered , playing along . "Ringo , just .. just shut up for a second! Damn it woman!" Ikki cried , exasperated. Ringo laughed , and stayed quiet while looking at him expectantly . He huffed a long breath out .

" I love you." His tone , firm and unwavering.

He stared at her , resigned . Ready for a rejection . He would understand if she did so , what right did he have to argue over that? None .

Ringo looked into his eyes , and saw the truth laid blandly in his expression . Ikki wasn't the type to play around with the heavy stuff. Such as love. A curve formed at her plump lips . Ringo replied "and I love you, Ikki. Always have , always will"

At that , both hearts melted . Unable to control the spilling emotions , Ikki slowly closed his eyes and brought his head closer . Closer.. and he felt her tremble slightly and opened his eyelids a little , peeking at her cute expression.

Her eyes was scrunched , and her mouth , jutted out rather shamelessly readying herself for their first kiss. That did it . Ikki laughed out loud he would've put the hyenas to shame . So loud that Ringo flew her eyelids open , startled . "What?" She asked , impatient. The atmosphere was ruined.

Ikki was still laughing obscenely loud , and his body bend over hers , making him laugh in her face. 'Kids got problems.' Ringo thought , irritated but amused. "Hahaha! Ringo.. you're such a dork! and that look on your face.!." And he fell into pieces of laughter , again.

That's it. The last straw. "Mou! Ikki , I hate you!" Ringo grunted and sat up on the bed . Ikki , noticing her little show of tantrum , followed her lead , his laughter subsided . He looked at her . Ringo turned away and looked at her hands , refusing to look him in the eye. The bastard.

Ikki promptly took her hands into his and kissed each of her fingers . "I laughed ,because you looked so damned adorable" Ikki said , still holding both her hands in his. When she still didn't look up , he brought her head down and settled it below her face so that she was staring right at him . She blushed and looked up. He heard a 'humph'

He couldn't help but to smile . "Ringo , I.. have something to give you. And if you won't look at me I'm never gonna give you it" He said

As if somebody had pulled a string , Ringo's eyes looked straight into his eyes. She felt awfully childish, but she pouted all the same. When she did , Ikki advanced into position . His head came closer , but he never left eye contact. "Close your eyes" He said , his tone smooth and loving.

Ringo did as she was told , and left her pout as they were. Ikki closed his own and crept forward until their lips touched . Her lips was soft and plump . He kissed her again, nudging his face forward. Ringo's lips moved in accordance to his previous action. She kissed him back , managing to keep it sweet but forceful.

"You stink"

[One life , One love- Epik High]


End file.
